Spin Off: Nurse abuse?

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Ok this is a slight spin off of the "Nurse fired for calling police" thread.

A) As a nurse have you experienced any physical or sexual abuse?

B) Was there any circumstances where you experienced or a coworker experienced abuse that was maybe at fault of the yourself or co-worker?

I ask this because us as nurses can do things to people that they don't necessarily want done (i.e. catheters, iv's etc), and can result in people lashing back. I believe Woody gave IV example. I gave example of swatting at my nurse when I asked her to not touch me during a single contraction while in labor and she wouldn't. (both in other thread) I have also seen nurses/doctors do things to patients with patient begging them to stop and they dont (again woody's IV example).

Last question:

C) if its ok for nurse to call police on patient, does patient have same rights to call police on staff? (say in situations where mentally coherent patients ask for something to be stopped like iv and staff doesn't?)

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Specializes in ICU, Telemetry.

Think about it. If you were in a condition which impaired your cognition -- say, a head injury after a MVA or a fall -- and we listened when you said you didn't want to eat or drink or keep on your oxygen or get a MRI/CAT/PET scan, how would you feel if you survived? I know I'd be like, "you knew I didn't know what was going on, why did you listen to me?!" If someone's A/O x4 and doesn't want something, that's fine, I'll document it and call the doc. But if it's something critical, don't be surprised if the doc tells me to get the pt to take it, period. And if I call him a second time with a refusal, don't be surprised if he says to tell the pt to take it or leave AMA. That's the doc, not the nurse.

A lot of what folks may think is the "bad old nurse" is just the doc giving us an order. Believe me, I've been slapped, swung at, kicked and had people trying to bite me, and that's just on a tele floor. If it's someone who's crazy, demented, or temporarily can't control themselves, that's one thing. If you're just swinging at me because you can, I'm calling security and your doc and we're getting you outta here. And yes, we've had the police come and pick up people right in their room for trying to stab a nurse with a 6 inch knife.

Personally, I'd like to see patients and visitors put thru a metal detector or wanded before they go into the hospital.

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Yes... but I'm talking specifically about coherent patients.. not ones that are mentally out of it.

I agree mental detectors especially in the ER's...

I was just curious about those situations where we are just doing what we percieve as normal every day tasks... and the abuse stemming from our actions.

We've all put in IV's we all know they hurt. But when a patient is asking us to stop while we fish around doesn't necessarily mean they are refusing IV and it needs to be charted.. just maybe stop that one poke because its too uncomfortable. (Woody's example). Technically if the patient physically does anything to stop the nurse then its assult... but isn't the nurse commiting assult by not stopping when the mentally stable patient is asking (also non-critical situations)? And not necessarily refusing care just wanting that one thing at that moment stopped.

THat's what i'm getting at...hmmm maybe I should try and re-word the OP

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Specializes in ICU.

as nurses we have or should have learned a long time ago which battles to pick to participate in. critical vs. non-critical. priority vs. non priority. as long as the patient understands the consequences of what they are refusing, it then becomes between them and god, i'm out of it. :smokin:

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Just a side note. It was probably a typo but I like MIcrunchy's "mental detector" in the ER. BEEP BEEP BEEP! Yep, you're mental alright.:yeah:

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Specializes in Case mgmt., rehab, (CRRN), LTC & psych.

Nurses have the right to NOT be abused.

Think about it. If I strolled into McDonald's and started punching the cashier, I would be escorted out of the building, and the police would probably be telephoned.

If I strolled onto a typical nurses station and started hitting the charge nurse, management and hospital administration would start making all sorts of laughable excuses for my criminal behavior, especially if I was a patient or family member. In addition, the police probably would not be called to keep negative publicity away from the facility.

Do y'all see the double standards that exist between nurses and the rest of society?

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Nurses have the right to NOT be abused.

Think about it. If I strolled into McDonald's and started punching the cashier, I would be escorted out of the building, and the police would probably be telephoned.

If I strolled onto a typical nurses station and started hitting the charge nurse, management and hospital administration would start making all sorts of laughable excuses for my criminal behavior, especially if I was a patient or family member. In addition, the police probably would not be called to keep negative publicity away from the facility.

Do y'all see the double standards that exist between nurses and the rest of society?

I agree I think nurses are far too abused. In my PCT days I was kicked thru a wall by a patient (long story) and recieved a concussion from another because of a nurse not tying restraints down... so i agree the abuse is rediculuous.

But is some of the abuse stemming from our actions? I'm not in anyway saying the abuse is justified...hmmm somehow I don't think i'm getting my question acrossed quite right.

But really MOST people won't run up and hit you in normal circumstances. But in health care there are too many attidutes of I know best, and patients being ignored. So Ias just curious how much abuse by SOME patients is ignited by our actions?

LOL I guess many here wouldn't admit to oh yes I had this one patient who I was fishing around for an IV with and the patient asked me to stop and I just said eh suck it up.. so the patient hit me?

Altho if your ADM walked up to you and started poking you, touching you or doing something physical to you that you didn't want wouldn't you attempt to defend yourself in some way if your verbal warnings weren't working?

and :chuckle mental detectors.. yes the ER needs those AND metal detectors!

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Altho if your ADM walked up to you and started poking you, touching you or doing something physical to you that you didn't want wouldn't you attempt to defend yourself in some way if your verbal warnings weren't working?

About 10 years ago, I worked at a hospital outpatient pharmacy, and one day my boss walked up to me while I was on the phone, standing at the counter, and started rubbing herself against me. I kept backing away from her, and when I got to the other counter, I pushed her away from me.

She put something in my personnel file that I had shoved her.

:banghead:

A few years later, she was in a serious car accident and the newspaper and television did really sappy stories about her. In each case, I promptly e-mailed the reporters who did the stories, and told one of them, "If she had been a 9/11 victim, she would not be on any missing persons list because nobody would care that she was gone." I found out about her accident at an association meeting, and the president said he had a card for people to sign. People who knew her just laughed, and NOBODY signed the card.

Edit: I told this story to someone at my present job, and she said, "What was she, like gay or something?" No, she was just looking for things to put in my file since I wasn't a good fit by her standards. BTW, two doctors told me I had PTSD after working there. :(

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Specializes in Med/Surg.

Men have a high tolerance for harassment vs. women. I get harassed all the time, admitably I enjoy most of it, but sometimes I get harassed by people I am less than attracted to in any sort of way, I Just take it and continue about my business. (I've even been harassed by other men, very uncomfortable situation especially when one of them was a MD).

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Specializes in ICU/Critical Care.

At the last hospital I worked, a nurse was assaulted by a patient, a patient who was neurologically intact I should add, an aide came to her rescue and got assaulted as well. I don't believe she caused him to beat her and the aide up as she was walking him from the bathroom to the bed. The patient ended up getting arrested. I believe the nurse pressed charges and the aide didn't.

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I'm sure this has already been written 100 different ways in 100 different posts, but this is really about the basic principals we all learned in kindergarten: You do not have the right to hit anyone. You do not have the right to threaten anyone.

I don't care what the excuse is; Grieving families, exhausted patients, or people angry because the procedure didn't go as planned (IV starts as a previous example). No one reserves the right to strike another human being in anger (however pained they may be)

I am, as most nurses are, sympathetic to all that familes and patients endure in the hospital. I am not so sympathetic that I won't be the first to press charges against an abusive person. Their lack of coping mechanisms does not constitute my becoming a punching bag.

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as a patient, if i don't want to get poked by an iv,

i won't get poked by an iv.

simple as that.

actually, this has happened and i pulled my arm away with a rabid look on my face.

i guess i don't understand how a pt could claim such 'abuse' when they had the ability to handle it themselves.

if they choose not to handle it, then pressing charges seems counter intuitive, doesn't it?

unless the abuse is such that it physically overwhelms and incapacitates the pt, i can't see any forthcoming charges containing any leverage.

i suppose i don't see some situations as being totally powerless...

leslie

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